Jan 16, 2011

Get your Latin groove on with these Cuban inspired black beans, loaded with mucho sabor (lots of flavor)! Easy to make and ready in twenty minutes, but don't let that fool you, there is plenty of flavor in these beans. Low fat, super high in fiber, vegan, gluten free, inexpensive and delicioso!

This sounds great. My family loves beans. I especially love black beans. The only downfall is the after-effects it has on my husband! hahaha! ;-) I will add this to a future meal plan of mine though. thanks for sharing!

Hi Gina, Love everything I have tried so far. Made the Pernil twice already and everyone loved it. I was wondering, so many of your recipes have all power Foods in the and can be marked as a Simply Filling Technique (old Core) recpe would you consider making a secton for those kinds of recipes for those of us doing Simply filling. If not I am still loving all you do and I tel everyone about your site.

Do you know how to translate canned beans to dry ones? So, what quantity of dry beans to make one can of pre-cooked beans? I'm sure this is obvious and maybe I'm just covered with a brain cloud this morning. Sounds delicious though. Since we all think cilantro tastes like soap in this house, I think I will try a mix of mint and parsley or whatever looks fresh at the store.

Thanks for sharing this recipe! I live down the street from a Cuban sandwich shop and their black beans and plantain chips are to die for! I think this recipe might come close to theirs, so I'm excited to try it.

I think I'm going to try to use dry beans to make it, and just save about 1/2 cup of the bean cooking liquid to use.

Gina, this looks delicious! I love black beans. My question is: how did you come up with 4 points per serving? Black beans are only 1 point per 1/2 cup and the only other ingredient I see that isn't "free" is the olive oil and that's 4 points for a whole Tbsp. I am figuring 2 points at most for 1/2 cup. This is how I always figure in my recipes. Do you count the total calories and fat and fiber even if you have 0 point ingredients? Thanks. I am using old points, by the way.

I'm a huge fan of all black bean dishes, brings back happy memories of traveling in Costa Rica. I've never not drained canned beans, I bet it keeps lots of good flavor in. Great idea! Can't wait to try this!

My 4 year old son is a huge fan Chipotles black beans and lime-cilantro rice. We are moving this summer to a small town (without a Chipotles). I'm so glad I'll be able to make this at home!! I'm trying both recipes tonight!

I don't know what took me so long to find your blog but I am sure glad that I did! I've been WW lifetime for 14 years and just want back to check in with the Points Plus system. I love it! I can make something new each and every day with all of your awesome recipes here. Just came back from the grocery store and will be trying Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken, Crock Pot Chicken Chili and Chicken Pot Pie Soup for the first ones that i try out. I see a connection here..Thanks so much!

Cookingmommy, I calculate all the nutritional info, even 0 point ingredients, then plug the final numbers into my WW calculator. Even though some ingredients are zero, they still have calories. And sometimes they are only 0 depending on how much you use. But I will double check my points to make sure there is no error.

Our leader said that we were NOT to count the "free" foods when making a recipe. She said to only enter the foods that had points in the Recipe builder....to leave out 0 point foods because even though they have calories, fat, etc WW has determined them to be "free".

I made this last night, along with cilantro rice. It was soooo good! In fact, I'm eating the leftovers for breakfast right now. It's even better the next day. I added some avocado slices to the top of this dish. I will double the recipe next time so my non-vegetarian hubby and son can have it with grilled chicken. Thanks for sharing this delight! My daughter and I love it!

Gina you are the BEST!I just made this, well I"m eating the dish as I write this .. Sooooooo good...I love wraps so I took a couple of the ww wraps and put some rice/beans added cheese and sour cream and SO GOOD! As someone who is trying to cut back on meat, I love this and would have never in a million years thought of making black beans this way..Thanks so much!!Lisa

This was AWESOME! Probably one of the most flavorful black bean recipes I've tried. I had to use dried cilantro. I increased the garlic. This paired fabulously with grilled chicken tacos. Keep the recipes coming!

So many people say they want to try your dishes, so I thought I'd pass along feedback after actually making one...

I just made the Cuban Style Black Beans for dinner and my husband loves them! The only thing I altered was the water. I had some leftover chicken stock, so I tossed that in instead. Very easy and very quick.

This is a superb recipe! We had it last night for dinner and everyone loved it. My kids and my husband gobbled them up. I am from Miami and have missed my Cuban black bean. This helped my craving. Will definitely make again and again! Thanks!

YUM YUM YUM!!!! I made this last night with the Cilantro Lime Rice and also made the Chicken Ropa Veija for my hubby (I am vegetarian, but he is not) and Oh. My. Gosh. was it delicious!

Gina, thank you so much for taking the time to create all of these incredibly delicious WW recipes. I have made about 10 of your recipes so far and each one has been ah-mazing!!! The best part is I can plan dinner without fear because I KNOW whichever recipe I make will be delicious! Thank you for this blog. You have made eating healthy even easier :-D

Since trying this dish, it has become a weekly item on the menu! I do not add the water, i found that it makes it soupy. I am not sure if it affects the points plus, but it will remain on the menu. Me and the husband absolutely love the dish. Thanks Gina!

This was crazy good!!! I made it last night with the Cilantro Lime Rice as is pictured, only insead of white rice, I use the long grain brown rice. I loved it, and my ten year old son ate his share as well- I will definitely make this again! Healthy, quick, very filling and inexepensive! A real winner!!

I love your recipes and your presentation my mom recently was told that she needs a heart valve repair and I love your recipes and I know that your recipes don't all show the sodium content. How can I figure it out? Help thanks and have a safe and wondeful New Year!

Gina - I just made your slow cooked pork carnitas, these black beans and the lime cilantro rice for dinner. My husband raved, I raved, we're still raving - this is better, in our opinion, than what we get at Cuban restaurants down here in Florida. Thanks so much for your website - you and your recipes are brilliant. :) I'll be trying many more!

Hey Gina - we made these black beans last night with the slow cooked pernil...I cooked the black beans in the crockpot, just threw all the ingredients in there and let it sit for 4 hours on low and they were so yummy! We served everything with rice, cheese, scallions, red onions, tomatoes and sour cream - we had the family over and everyone loved making their creations =) Just another AMAZING recipe of yours!!

I made these with canned low-sodium Bush's black beans. I followed the recipe to the letter and they turned out very bland. I added some spices, but the beans themselves didn't absorb any of the good flavors. I think I'll stick to full-sodium and just enjoy a smaller portion. Thanks for posting!

we love this recipe. Even my 5yr old loves this. We use the beans in place of beef for tacos and I like to make a taco salad with lettuce, beans, tomato, cheese and avocado. If we have them in the house top with some tortilla chips. Great recipe. Chipotle is my absolute favorite and I have missed it since moving to Canada and the rice is a very close match in my opinion. Brown rice does not taste as good though.

I'm wondering if anyone has had a version of this with coconut milk? My friend from Haiti makes a version that Is amazing but she is a cook that doesnt use recipes so she can't really tell me what she does. All I know is she fries up some shallots and black beans in oil, then must add some sort of seasonings with water and coconut milk and rice. The pot sits on the stove for an hour or so. Would love to know if anyone has a more specific recipe for this? It's so good!!

I have made a dish like this for a few years and love it as is! To please my meat-loving husband, we add in sliced smoked turkey sausage and top with hot sauce and cheese. This has been a go-to website for my weekly meal planning and I have reccomended it to all my family and friends. Love that I can find most of the ingredients at my grocery store!!

Hi Gina! I love your website and your recipes! I have made these beans twice. The first time I didn't add the water (just forgot) and I didn't have onion on hand to add. I liked it much better this way and thought it had a lot more flavor. Just a tip for those who want to make them :) I've used them in burrito bowls with your carnitas, corn salsa, and cilantro lime rice. I have used them in a Mexican layer dip (with the leftovers) And I have ate them over whole grain pasta. Yummy and so versatile!

Make this for a friend who talked about Black bean she had in Costa Rica. She missed them so much I decided to make something close to it using this recipe. I made them for her, and she loved them. She said that they were just like the ones she had when she was away. Thank you so much for such a wonderful meal!

Hi, Gina, you are absolutely right! Never, ever, drain black or red beans in Cuban cooking. If people are worried about sodium, they can buy low-sodium canned beans or make dried black beans.The best way to add water to black beans is to use the empty can of beans and take advantage of any liquid left in the can. Cuban black beans are moist - not soupy - but they should have a thick liquid sauce. The sauté of onions, peppers, and garlic (called "sofrito" in Cuban cooking) is what adds flavor to black beans and many other Cuban dishes. Traditional Cuban black beans are made with green peppers. We usually saute no less than 5 minutes. Traditionally, dry white wine and white vinegar are added. I usually omit the white wine because my husband was a diabetic, but don't skip the vinegar - 3 tablespoons. I use white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar, since I don't use wine. Do use oregano and cumin, but cilantro is only used as garnish when serving. The bay leaf goes in whole and is removed before serving.I also use onion and garlic powder to increase the flavor. I cook the beans 30 minutes to an hour. Beans made the day before, refrigerated, and reheated with a little water or chicken broth have a great deal more flavor. Drizzle a little olive oil over the beans before serving. Also agree that white rice is the rice of choice. Basmati or jasmine rice work well too. I've tried it with brown rice, but it just doesn't work for me - it's just not how Cubans eat black beans. There is a great website called Three Cuban Guys in Miami that has authentic Cuban recipes in English. They address the issue raised in one of the comments in your Congrí recipe. Congrí vs Moros con Cristianos. I realize that the goal is to adapt recipes to make them low calorie, so I understand, just adding my two cents of experience and native knowledge. --Cuban Mama struggling to cook Cuban food in the Deep South.

Hi Gina, I was just comparing this recipe to your Brazilian Black beans, and was wondering why this recipe is 1/2 cup for 3pp, whereas the Brazilian black beans is 1 cup for 3 pp - I would have thought the Brazilian black beans were higher in points because they have the smoked ham? Are they lower in points because you start with dried beans? Are canned beans higher in points.

Sorry if I am missing something, just a little confused! Thanks for clarifying (and for the great recipes!).

I used the dried beans, because they are more bang for your buck, and you get a whole pot full of beans. Left overs are great in a flour tortilla for a breakfast burrito, as I am not a typical breakfast eater, and it starts my day with protein! Other than cooking my beans from scratch, I followed the recipe, and just bumped up the ingredients a bit, to add for the extra amount of beans. Great Recipe!